


Future Technology

by Bearcina, Galaxy_Lixx



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Androids, Depressing Themes, Gen, Slight Cannon divergence, Slow updates bc school, cannon retelling, like a lot, mel needs a hug, mental issues themes, oh boy are you in for a shit story, shes going to get hurt, uhhh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-10-20 05:19:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10655727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bearcina/pseuds/Bearcina, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galaxy_Lixx/pseuds/Galaxy_Lixx
Summary: What is "Aperture Science Innovators"? Why did i sign so many contracts?Certainly I will know, with time.But for now, all I know is that I'm confused and lost with a new demon as a guide.**Indefinite hiatus, working on a professional project**





	1. The Flames of a Future Fire (Prologue)

 

The gentle clack of a subway train filled my ears, a seemingly calm noise at the signal of being propelled to my newest challenge. 

**_Aperture Science Innovators._** The name composed a delicate symphony of excited confusion to tease my soul into filling out that _test subject_ application those few weeks ago. My previous Olympic win in track had qualified me for this… testing of some sorts.

 

_Testing for the future? Down in an old salt mine? Sounds like a lie._

 

I applied, and was soon issued an **_Aperture Science Innovators’ Test Subject Jumpsuit™._ ** It also came with a new set of boots, not even scuffed in transportation. What exactly was their purpose? It was… strange to say the least, metal fixtures attached to the calves, and a pole with a seemingly spring-like quality, it kept the heels of the boots off the ground when I wore them. What possible purpose would a metal pole have, and more importantly, how was I expected to run basically on my tiptoes?

My ‘test’ was to go into their brand new “ **_Aperture Science Innovators'  Short-Term Deep Relaxation Detention Vaults_ ** _”_ and test their new “ _Deep Relaxation”_ concepts.

What exactly is “ _Deep Relaxation_ ”? Why did I need to sign a phonebook of contracts to do it?

_Will they tell my family if it goes awry?_

 

The clicks and groans of the train stopping brought me back into reality, away from the anxious bubbles of memories. A message played over the speakers yet again. The loud, proud, _and slightly cocky_ , voice of Cave Johnson boomed through the cart of the lonely train, and yet its only passenger wasn’t leaving any room in her head for a new voice to intrude on her thoughts.

Another message, barely a few seconds later, played through the speakers, booming into my ears yet once again, leaving a chaotic melody of instruction, then left me to empty silence to only be filled moments later with the lonely tune of a happy song to mask the constant, happy click-clack of the train beneath my feet.

 

Such a pristine landing platform, was it just cleaned? I could see my face in the shining tiles, it must have been!

Yet once more, a never silent voice raised over these intercoms again, leaving a packet more of instruction to follow. A light in the dark, a helpful guide into such a journey I have embarked on into this windingly deep facility! Helpful, maybe, but one with such a happy tone to the thought of science must have _something_ a bit more behind the scenes...

 

“ _We didn’t have a community to give back to, so we made one! Right here in Aperture!”_

 

The voice flittered through my ears, registering a warning to my conscious, but meaning nothing. I wandered this fabricated park, watching for a sign of life (but frowning at the sight of a children's area far off, a child shouldn't live here away from nature and others!), having not met any thus far in my journey, none past the turret testing facility on the ride in, anyway…

 

_“... I wanted to install a set of long, winding steps in here to…”_

 

The voice flittered back through my ears, filling the eerie silence that consumed my slow elevator ride down into the deepest part of the facility, not a completely unwelcome company, but it was lonely when it was just recordings played; a memory encased forever in time, it wouldn’t be a pleasure to be the only person to hear such words. This ride was very lonely, as if it was a descent into the pits of hell to be devoured by cruel sciences as torture for eternity. Silence in this descent was crushing, I begged silently for the return of noise, that wasn't the clacking of the elevator, or scientists working far off.

Unrelenting in his voice, Mr. Johnson was proud with these words I hear after such a silence, all for the sake of science he poured millions into these enrichment spheres for the future. His assistant, Miss Caroline, must have quite a figure on her paycheck to be here…

This descent into Aperture did in fact squeeze my curiosity to almost unbearable levels, like a mighty bear took ahold of such curiosity I never knew was within me, and showed its mighty strength by squeezing such a feeling into me, to watch these mysterious enrichment spheres being built. Even if my elevator was meant for more than me, it felt like this was a solitary experience for my eyes only.

Every second that I watched these items of curiosity float by me with guidance by the proud man over the speakers, it heightened my curiosity and longing to go explore those items in front of me, to go jump from this elevator and run into those crudely, half assembled spheres to satisfy my feelings.

This proud guide was cruel, hinting only at what these items of curiosity contained for me. Such a cruel guide, I pray will relieve me of this curiosity, would finally silence himself into the hissing of the elevator stopping on the final floor.

 

**_Cruel guide, do show me what I’m to be a subject of science for!_ **

 

It saddened me in such a way that I couldn’t explain, I was only going to experience their Deep Relaxation technology, I wanted so much more than this now! I want to go out into _there_!

_“When you get there, follow the signs… Go into the chamber, lay down on the bed, and the lab boys will take care of the rest.”_

 

I followed my cruel guide’s instruction to this chamber, and felt the curiosity as I have mentioned previously, jump in agonizingly deep need to find such an answer to the display before me. A medical stretcher with a bed, and a tube with a television, all standing proudly beside a computer, and tanks of various chemicals I wouldn’t even know… Such a curious contraption!

 

_This will only be an hour…._

_Right **?**_

_Just a nap, nothing more…_

 

Clicks of machinery were deafening as I was pulled into the contraption. The bed wasn’t the softest, and I expect an uncomfortable crick in my neck when I wake. The television… _“Good night from Aperture Science”._

These clicks of machinery were slowly dropping into nothingness, the murmur of scientists outside of my relaxation pod fading in over these fading clicks and whirrs came in, and faded out as the hiss of gas released into the atmosphere around me. All just a sad passing few thoughts into my conscious, as I now wished to hear more as the “ _Deep Relaxation”_ became a stronger _calling_ to me.

Such an unexpected soft haze pulled at my eyes, a sickeningly sweet and bubblegum scented gas, it was becoming so hard to think… These voices whispered sweet, calming nothingness from the deep haze that was being pulled over my mind like a thick fog on early morning, like a fluffy blanket to snuggle in on a cold winter's’ day, _yet it was bubbling and terrifying something in me to a point of anxiety over waking_.

This haze won me over within seconds, that did feel like hours in my own mind, was it just my curiosity not wanting to rest?

 

In just a moment, _ **I was out.**_

 

_Red! There's alarms! Why are they going off-?_

_Why can’t I move?_

_Let me out!_

_Where did my voice go-?_

_Why can’t I scream?!_


	2. My Nightmares Guided By Technological Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alone...  
> Such a sad word, such a sad life if you're alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhh, i guess maybe tw for panic attack??????

“Is, uh, is this thing on? H...hello?”

    Pause.

           “Can you hear me?.... Oh right, you can’t answer me.”

                    Pause.

“I’m so sorry astronaut, olympian, and/or war hero! There was a slight problem with the test. Don’t worry, though! We got’cha out okay! Nothing’s changed! Just head out of the chamber and I’ll tell you more later.”

Such an annoying voice… Can’t I just have a moment to-

The smell of Aperture, tinged with something unpleasant, wafted through my nose giving me a harsh awakening to my dulled senses. A cruel reminder of the evils awoken during my slumber. Such a long slumber, as it seemed to my dull and sluggish senses.

The gross, soggy sensation of a rotting mattress pressed into the back of my jumpsuit reminded me to get of of the “ _ bed”.  _ The mattress was harshly thrown to the ground in my  long short sleep. I studied it for a while, noticing how my body had left an ugly, dark impression on it. I slowly took with stretching out my weakened muscles at my own slow pace, hoping to find some resemblance of strength before my next set of movements. 

When I finally decided I was well stretched, I went to open the door to my chamber. Sadly, the door fell out of the frame, clattering down uselessly. 

 

My chamber!!   
**_I’m not on the ground!!_ **

 

My silent voice cried out at the pure shock of being stacked upon more of the ‘ _ Relaxation Vaults’.  _ I had already jolted backwards a step, confused by how I had moved from the floor to into a stack of these relaxation vaults. 

It took a while, but I cautiously jumped out onto the vault below mine, wondering if there was a person stuck in there, just waiting for revival… 

Stepping cautiously to the edge of the stack of vaults, I paled, looking down at the drop that would easily break my legs. I attempted to yell out for my guide, to protest to the only option to jump down. I continued to try and yell, but no sound at all came forth. 

 

“Don’t worry about that drop! I had my scientists give you some long fa-” 

The guide paused for only a moment.

“I mean,  _ Aperture Science Innovators’ Long Fall Boots!”  _

 

_ Long fall boots.  _ So that’s what was making me walk basically on my tip-toes… I didn’t  _ want  _ to test them, with such vague description. But unfortunately so, I had to if I wanted to leave here. 

Just a deep breath.

Just...one...Jump!

It was thrilling, to flail my arms instinctively as I anticipated a sickening crunch from my legs upon impact.

                             But there wasn’t one.

 

It was a relief even after patting down my legs to see that I was still in one piece. I was all too happy to see that the  _ Aperture Innovators  _ technology didn’t fail me, unlike the  _ Deep Relaxation  _ technology. 

With no other options, I must move forward. 

A deep breath.

             Forward. 

                    Up and out. That is my goal. 

 

_ Just one  _ **_minor_ ** _ issue…. _

How do I  **leave?**

 

 

Going into the test subject waiting room, I was startled by the nature reclaiming the room, and not the crude turret defense system still standing, clicking their empty guns. A fast and steady  _ click click click click click  _ followed me around the empty room. I pulled at the vines on the wall, and pulled my hand back at the rough texture, unsure what plant it had mutated from.  _ Ew…  _ it was  _ sticky.  _

Looking behind the trophy case I saw that there was crushed ceiling tiles there, ensnared by the strange vines. They were old and falling apart, not just by the plant. I wonder, how long had the plant been growing to have reached this far down?   
Back to the trophy case, I looked inside of it. It was very dusty, and obviously had more awards and posters in it since I had gone into my slumber. 

“I had my scientists leave you a new.. Uh, test! In that trophy case! Just get it and we’ll be on our way!” The guide called out to me, his voice breaking the still clicking turret-filled silence. 

I let out a soundless sigh, feeling a bit annoyed by the bad impression of Cave Johnson. This guide obviously wasn’t from an area around, having a weird… accent on the accent he was trying to impersonate. It was definitely a male, by the sound of the voice, but for now, I must call the guide ‘Cave’ until I learn his name. 

I stared down into the shattered trophy case, not really wanting to pick up the bright yellow device staring up at me. It had a sticker,  _ ASHPD.  _ What was an…  _ ASHPD?  _ I frowned, looking up in the case, looking at a poster. There was a rather worn one in the back, I read over it. 

**_“AHPD! Aperture Handheld Portal Device! --- Coming soon!”_ **

 

It didn’t make much sense in my mind, how did it work? The graphic showed a man falling through a portal, I think it’s a portal anyway, with a gun shaped sort-of like the gun sitting happily in its holder. I scrunched my eyebrows together in confusion, not understanding it. 

I sighed again, and bit the inside of my cheek. It was a challenge, yes? What do I have to worry about, other than it’s  _ Aperture  _ technology… I’m sure this.. Gun will be safe enough, anyway. I didn’t have much more to lose than my voice. 

I stared at the gun for a long moment still, ignoring the persistent guide above me telling me to just go ahead and take it already. I didn’t particularly  _ want  _ to pick it up, the yellow reminding me of caution tape and testing dummies, both neither good things to be. 

It was tense, even the clicking of the turrets had stopped in that very moment. 

No, no. No more wasting time. 

 

**_Pick. Up. That. Gun._ **

 

And I did. 

A burst of blinding blue light broke out from the glass chamber and the end of the device! 

And then, it hummed. It hummed so loudly I thought it was going to crack apart. 

 

The gun seemed to be stable, for now. A tiny crack had formed in the burst of light from the device, as if there was a pressure inside of the glass chamber had been released too quickly. I gently dusted it off, surprised at the dust clouding the paint and sticker. 

It surprisingly had a bit of weight behind it, requiring me to hold it with both hands to operate. I felt around the inside of the open handed area, feeling a sliding wheel in it. I experimentally pushed it upwards, the light in the glass shifting into a bright orange. I rolled it downwards and it turned blue again. Interesting. 

“Okay! Just head on out the door to your left and we’ll get going!” the imposter called happily. 

I sighed silently, and pushed and pulled the vines away from the door to leave. They didn’t like it, but I didn’t enjoy their weird sap all over my jumpsuit. 

 

The area outside had a large, and toxic looking, pool in the middle, with more of the plants growing out of it, feeding off of the water. I saw a dirty white panel leaning against a pole, and thought about it for a minute, then experimentally shot at it. A glowing blue oval appeared on the surface, having a watery textured look to it. I touched it with my boot gently, and it didn’t give way. 

I turned around a few times, looking around for somewhere else to fire at. I saw an overlooking office, and a white ceiling. White meant it could hold the portals, it seems. I rolled the wheel, and fired the blue portal’s orange companion on the ceiling. I looked back at the blue portal beside me, seeing it project the image the orange portal was facing; a dirty tiled floor, and a dusty chair. 

I hesitated, looking between the two for a moment, then stepped into the blue portal, and let out a shocked, mute scream from falling through and onto the floor. I took shallow, panicked breaths for a while, thankfully have landed on my feet from the boots. 

 

The room seemed to be another waiting room. It had a poster, or maybe it was two, and a painting. I observed the painting, noting how it read “Cave Johnson” under it. That was definitely not who I remembered as Cave Johnson. This person was much older, and much more tired, less enthusiastic about being where he was. 

A million worries bubbled in my stomach, not sure how long it had been anymore. I thought it may had just been a few days, not what I was presented with. I leaned against the wall, not sure how to handle how long I had really been under, if the painting was accurate to now. My ASHPD clattered to the ground, my mind blurring into a messy run of the haze of fear. 

 

My chest tightens at the thought of being alone. Where is everyone? Why was I the only one left? Are they... _oh_ _god_. Suddenly I can’t breathe, my legs go numb and I can’t move. I collapsed to the floor on my knees. My mind is racing.  

 

_ Can’t breathe-- Whats happening? Someone help me! Can’t move----- Oh god I’m dying!! someone help me i don’t want to be alone!! Someoneanyone--! idon’twanttobealone---- i’m scared i cant BREATHE SOMEONEHELPME!!! _

 

The room was filled with my uneven breathing for many minutes, maybe even an hour. I was scared, and my makeup was running down my face while I cried, weakly trying to pull myself together. What’s the point in continuing? Everyone I knew had died already, I was alone in this hellhole of a science facility, following the empty  **_LIES_ ** I had been lead on to believe. I could spend the last few days I had, without any food or water, sobbing in a fit of fear under this painting…. Or I could get up and make a new life. 

A new life sounds terrible. 

I don’t know anything about this world anymore. It’s painfully obvious now to me, it wasn’t 1952 when I had gone to that terrible deep sleep. 

All the  **_LIES_ ** they filled me with bubbled up in my chest with a roaring anger. 

I  **DON’T** want to be here anymore! 

I  **REFUSE** this fate I had signed for!  

**I** **WILL LEAVE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took me four days to churn this out, sadly. I wrote this to a lot of Portal fan songs, the Portal Musical soundtrack, and a bunch of 8Tracks playlists, specifically this one: http://8tracks.com/aureaurora/not-a-moron


	3. You're /My/ Olympian!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An escape.  
> One milestone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> absolutely did not beta  
> this might be revised later, if I ever get to it

My heart finally returned to a steady rhythm, and I leaned back against the sturdy wall behind me. I stared up at the taunting painting who looked back at me in a mock of what I had been left to. This cruel world. A cruel guide, in the shadow of his former glory would only stand to taunt me for what has been left for me to crawl through like a crippled slug waiting on her demise.   
These hallways will _not_ hold me captive like a songbird stuck to a cage. I will _not_ sit back and allow the punishing mistakes of someone else to tie me here by the faded, empty promises left to me many years ago. **_No._** I will not allow this to be my cruel burial site today, this is **_not_** what I will let fate decide for me. I will **_not_** allow this to be my end. 

No. Not even the tired body holding me down will allow me to end here. No. Not even that fit will slow me down. My energy may be sapped, but  _ no,  _ I  **will** leave. I will get out of this hell. 

My body ached, protesting at the slightest movement. I didn’t want to lay down and allow another rest for the fear of sleeping for another time I should have never seen. Everything ached with a deep tiredness, but I must get up. I have to move forward, there isn’t anywhere else to go. Forward. Up. 

_ Home. _

 

The ASHPD laid ready for me down by my side, no worse than it was before from my carelessness of the device. Ready to face the next challenge, I sighed soundlessly, rolling my shoulders to release the tension in my shoulders. Beside the wall I had been sitting against was another pure white surface, yet bore the vines of the sticky plant as before. I rolled the dial in my device, the inside lights turning blue then shot a blue portal against the surface, watching it stick and open up to the sight of the orange companion facing the sad lake below the room I was in.

A quick hop down from the room’s busted window landed me beside the lake. No matter how much I trusted the rusty brown boots I wore, I was always surprised by the lurch down to land onto my feet. The boots seemed to be some sort of grounding point that I always landed on. Could I land on my neck? Just how safe were these boots I trust?

The orange swirled around the teasing opening into the office the blue companion was facing. I walked through the little lake, the water barely lapping at my shins. I frowned at the portal staring back at me. It did pique my curiosity to the technology no matter how many times I see one standing right in front of me. I still hesitantly stick a leg through and tap the solid tiles on the other side, thankful for the sturdy ground, rather than a rough downwards lurch as soon as I had stuck my head in. The step into the next room was welcome, just a short drop between the clash of dirt to practiced tile floor. 

The office on the other side wasn’t much at the first glance when I looked. Then, I really got a good look at what was hidden to me before. 

I was filled with a skeptical curiosity, just what was _ that _ ?

What is it? 

I set down the gun in my hands beside the strange thing on the desk and hesitantly reached to turn it to face me, well, I thought it was facing me. A condensed number pad sat on the smooth surface, the paint chipping off of the keys a bit. But what  _ is it? _

A handle?

It’s not a handle… It came off the desk easily/ I pressed a few of the buttons, expecting some sort of response, but the buttons didn’t respond, nor did the strange item.I set it back in its resting space, and poked at the number-pad a few times again with more force. It clicked back at me happily after an annoying moment where the buttons were stopped up with some sort of dried red powder. What was its original purpose? 

No, no, not the time to dwell on things that had been, not if I wanted to leave. This some sort of futuristic technology was not something I should investigate right now, not with this device I already had with me that I needed to know more about. Maybe I would find another one of them soon, and have the time to investigate it; but for now, I must leave. 

 

The next room over was a mess. There was shattered glass and blinding white panels of some sort of chalky material covered in a dusty film, dying potted ferns, and tipped chairs. The plans before had been bad enough to deal with, but this was even more concerning, how long had this building needed to be unattended for so long that it was to end up in this state of disarray?

I stepped on one of the randomly placed panels, observing the room more. Was  _ this  _ the reception room from before? No, it couldn’t possibly be… 

Another step backwards off of the tiles. I cautiously wandered through the rubble, over to the desk, and behind it. The painting of Miss Caroline hung there. This  _ was  _ the reception room. The very same painting hung there as before, yet it was covered in a thick layer of dust, as well as the desk and the other items strewn about the desk. 

_ This  _ was more shocking than the painting of Cave Johnson before. It’s as if this room hadn’t been touched since I had wandered in when I was first here, absolutely untouched by time, save for the white panels and rubble littering the ground. 

 

I backed away from the desk, in utter shock from the new information. This was too much to handle if I stayed here too long. I  _ knew  _ what would happen if I stayed and thought about it again. 

So I ran. I ran out of the office and over the tiles into the room on the end opposite to the office. 

The joined room held an orange-stained pipe from the ceiling, a few switches, and two turrets, one facing a white tile  and the other clicking its guns at me. I needed out of this building, so I looked for a way out of there. Even if I hated it, I returned to the reception room, and climbed the stairs. 

A quick flick and  _ fhop  _ of a blue portal sticking onto the white tile waiting on the ground below the balcony. I looked around the balcony for a bit, and noticed that there was a white tile facing a rather large opening in the glass covering the front of the building. I thought… If I jumped into the portal on the floor, would I come out just as I went in? 

Tempting to try, yes, but I don’t think I was quite ready to try it; so I left it alone, and went back to the control room. I walked past the turret “guarding” the door, and pulled a lever on one of the panels. 

There was a groan of piping, then  _ slpoosh  _ of some sort of substance being dropped on the ground. 

I whirled around, jumping back at the bright, bright orange goop splashing from the comically large pipe and onto the white tile below it. Since the white tiles from before could hold a portal, could the soaked panel hold one? Would the goop go through? 

_ Fff-hhhopp.  _

_ Sh-shhk. _

Two portals placed to transfer the gel-like substance. 

 

It  _ did  _ go through, and the floor beside me was heavily painted with it, but dried in an instant. I tapped it with my boot, confirming it was dry and the pigment didn’t stick to the soles. I then stepped onto the painted floor segment, and took a few steps. 

_ V-shhhhh! _

I was sliding forward much, much faster than I had ever run before. A silent scream broke through my lips as I fell backwards on the substance, my heart hammering dangerously in my chest as the adrenaline pumped through me, my head feeling too light. 

I stayed on the ground for a while, catching up with my running heart. Then, I realized, the panel on the balcony could be helpful. If I place a portal there, and one at the end of the segment of orange gel, I could easily make it through the window. 

As such, I left the office, and put a portal back up on the balcony with a quick shot, then I ran back to the control room, and placed the companion in front of my painted floor. I took a deep breath, and ran down the strip of gel as fast as I could, silently screaming the whole way as I jetted through the broken window, taking out shards with my jump that stuck to my skin and hair as I landed unsteadily on my feet a while away from the office. 

I stared back at the office building, feeling a sense of pride welling up in my chest. 

 

One milestone. 

Only who-knows how many to go. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is listlesscupcakes.tumblr.com , PM if interested in being a bet  
> Maybe even follow, since I sometimes draw Portal things for this 
> 
> for anyone wondering  
> she was inspecting a Nokia.


	4. /Mel./

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first upload was crap

I looked back again, as unhealthy as it may be, I still looked back. A flaw, yes, but I’m only human. 

_Only human._

_Such an odd thing to keep in mind._

 

A look back still pushed my urges to leave even more, bubbling over into a fiery desire to keep ahead. A tomb no more, but the very reason to push forward instead. _Forward, forward, forward… Up, up, up. _

The once clean river stood filled to the brim with a stinking green substance, disguised as water. There posed crudely above the surely toxic lake was a bridge to a cracking cement platform. It seemed new to me, yes, but it must have been many, many years old to be dusty and cracked already. 

Boxes are strewn about the platform, warning signs hastily slapped up, empty barrels. All forgotten too quickly. Left behind. Left behind to rot here. Items were still crammed into the boxes and the glue of the posters peeling away and yellowing their edges. Left here. 

I kicked one of the boxes out of my path, hearing a faint thunk, _c-rask_! **Oh**. There was something _left in it_. **Left. In. It.** They _left_ something _in it_. 

I kicked it again. _Then again_. I kicked it until there was blue fluid pouring out of the ruined box. I yanked at my hair. Screamed at nothing. With **nothing**. _They left me with **nothing**. _

What gave these boxes more than me? What made these _boxes_ have more worth than I? What was worth _more than a life?_  

 _“For science!”_ They cry, _“Science!”_  

Science. The one thing that got me into this tomb I was shoved into. Buried alive with this rubble. _Science._

_Science_ left me without a family. 

 _Science_ left me without a voice.

 _Science_ left me here. 

 _Science_ left me alone. 

**_Science._ **

**_Science._ **

**_Science_**. 

 

I never want to hear science again. I **never** want to see science. _Science_ can rot away. _Science took **everything** from me. The **last** thing I had, taken.  Taken. _

I was more than furious over this, no, I was livid. It burned at my soul, taking away everything left in there that was still clinging onto that sad, depressed, moping emotion over the situation. Anger is what fueled my ascent. 

Another kick to the sizzling mess, then I stormed away from the cluster of forgotten items. Staying there wouldn’t let me keep going forward. Staying there only fuel what they chose for me. They were not going to keep me. 

This fueled storm of rage kept me going past the abandoned train tracks, and to a station. 

 

_“Before you go any farther… there's something you need to know, we have this new thing called Emancipation Grids…”_

Finally, a word from the disguised guide. 

_“...to prevent objects from moving around to other tests. And some guy thought it was a good idea to put one that prevents people from going through where people needed to go through…”_

Helpful. For once. Finally, someone not interested in keeping me locked in here.

 

It took a moment to make the connection between the red film grid and the advice I had been given. Red seemed to be the deadly ones, and the helpful ones must be a cool tone… maybe green. 

Offices nearby again, overlooking a giant circular sealed door, it read _Seal 01_ , and the rooms the grid was defending. I looked around the massive station, wandering the length of the enclosed stations, that I assumed I needed to get into, for a way pass. After being unable to find a way through there, I decided to hop the tracks and go into the parallel offices. 

Looking around the room at the silent machinery, and the messy paper piles, sent a shiver down my spine in this low lighting. The springs right behind my heels groaned at my slow pace around the room as I took in the sight of coffee cups growing mold, papers yellowed over time, and dust caked on the assorted desk handles. I wanted to touch the desks, read the papers, sit in the chairs, but it felt wrong. The gentle glow coming from the device I had to lug around cast a gentle glow on the areas the dying fluorescent bulbs couldn’t.

I wandered the room a moment more, before finding a large switch box. The platform electrical control.

“This switch here isn’t like the other ones. You can turn it off whenever you want, or turn it back on. The others don’t do that…” The guide advised, his voice trailing into an awkward laugh, reminding me again as I yanked the rusting handle to the ‘off’ position. 

It squealed in protest as the industrial lights shut off one-by-one with loud clunks as their electrical charge were cut abruptly, then the low whine of the grid powering off quickly followed it as the emergency light cut on. I looked through the frosted glass, checking to see that the blood-red grid had cut off, then went to go across where it was. 

The lights and the grid had taken up a lot of noise; now that they were off, I could really tell, the heavy clunking of my boots filling the crushing silence. My breath caught in my throat as it settled crushingly on my shoulders, making me slow my running to a walk until I crossed the empty walkway for the grid. 

Looking to the left and right, I saw the little offices I was looking to get into, quickly finding out that they were to be controlled by two people. To my knowledge, I wasn’t two people, so I needed to solve that puzzle, along with getting pass the grid when I restore the power. 

    I walked the catwalk before the offices, finding a portal location on the side before the grid. I then returned to walk between the offices to find another place to set one. Finding one facing a powerless switch, convenient if the parallel office was alike. Shooting an orange portal on the wall in question, then jogged over to the other office to see if it was alike-- and it was. 

 

 A quick jog around to the offices, then immediately to the power switch. Pushing it up with all my might, it groaned, then slammed into place with a heavy _c-lunk! Whirvvv….._ Then the lights  whirred to life along with the heavy thrumming of electricity, filling the room with noise once again. It was nearly comforting to hear the loud hum of electricity as I crossed the tracks. I walked this time, down to the bright orange portal radiating its own light for me. A quick step, and I was back to the control rooms. 

I looked over to the other office, and haphazardly shot an orange portal to the wall I saw. I hopped through the beautiful electric blue one, and to the next room. Deciding to find out how the switches worked, I roughly yanked it down, to only hear a telling _click-click_ imitating the noise of a clock. I looked for the timer, and found it, watching it click down from three. Assuming I had three seconds to pull both switches, I placed my portal directly in front of the panel, hopped to the other side, then repeated. 

I yanked the first switch, hopped over, then the second. 

A loud Cla-chunk! Echoed through the platform, sending my ears ringing as an alarm blared over the speakers, the lights slamming off, and the emergency light running to life, telling me that I had just done something that I shouldn’t have done. Slowly, the seal door’s hardly proportional handle spun, hissing with the power of steam, then ever so slowly the door was pulled upwards, just until the box-like platform across was revealed in full, then the alarm silenced, and the lights returned. 

It was open, and a brand new platform awaited me. 

 

It wasn’t illuminated well, so finding a spot to shoot a new portal to get there was hard. It took nine shots at bare walls for one to stick on the lowest part of the new platform. I ran through to it, then took in the sight of the previous platform a moment before heading up the stairs, and straight across to the pipes. I slowly connected the white paint with the white tiles, after a few portals that didn’t stick, then realized I had to wander through the mess of piping to get to the door up above them. 

It took what felt like an hour to get up to the door, after falling off of the pipes, or getting stuck between them. My shoulders were bruised up more than a dropped peach, and I finally continued to the hallway, pass the office with a shattered. 

_“Just through here is the_ new _testing track.”_

 

They say it’s new, but I know it’s not. I could never be new with how much dust was layered on everything. They couldn’t have some sort of computer making brand new ones down here in a sealed containment area. 

The hallway was dirty brown, the once green paint having peeled off to reveal stained plywood underneath. At the end of the hall was a bright, sky blue “emancipation grid”. Assuming it was just the friendly counterpart to the red, I walked straight down to it, and through it. The gun vibrated violently, letting out an unhappy groan as I assumed it had reset. The fire door on the other side was a bit strange, and I wondered for a moment if it would set off another alarm.

Thankfully, it didn’t, and I could step out onto an emergency escape catwalk system. There was an unhappy crow that called at me, before flying off to sit somewhere else. That _“somewhere else_ ” just happened to be a rusted support frame, that came crashing right onto a bright white pipe. 

    The crash shook the supports I was standing on, and nearly made the lights flicker. Unhappily, I looked for a way to the elevator I supposed I needed to get to, to see the “new testing track”. There wasn’t a catwalk there anymore, having rusted and fallen into the acidic pit below. Unfortunately, that left me with the unsafe way across the pipes to what little catwalk hadn’t rusted away. 

    It took a while, but I finally hopped down onto the large pipe that had a bright blue “gel glow” sticker pointing to the spheres that had previously caught my eye. I slowly inched to the catwalk, trying to ignore the loud groaning from the pipes, with the stress of my weight now being nearly too much. The catwalk groaned and shook when I jumped onto it, as well, only encouraging me to run over to the elevator adorned with the bright blue emancipation grid. 

I hopped into the elevator, ignoring the unhappy shudder as it slowly raised up into the sphere. 

    It spat me outright outside a large _01_ printed on green paint. The automatic doors opened up door me without a moment's’ hesitation, revealing plywood, open frames, and green and white tiles. Stepping into the testing area, I heard the splashes of goo and water to my left, where a platform awaited me to use the gel and water. To the right, there were a few platforms hidden behind a blue grid and a pit with a corner platform. 

I surveyed the test, noting that it fed into another section of the test, then went for the solution. 

 

The test itself took nearly forty minutes to complete until I was standing directly in front of the second half of it, with a cube holding open the electric door. 

This test held two more buttons, an angled tile, another grid hiding a button, a piston, and a platform to the exit. I watched the cube dispenser spit out a cube with a squeak, then I heard the guide speak up again. 

“ _This whole test is lead-lined, according to my nineteen-fifties notes here in my nineteen-fifties filing cabinet…_.” He muttered, obviously spitting out lies over the nineteen-fifties. 

I hesitantly played with the portals and cube dispenser, already having found that the portals did not affect how things went in and exited. I launched a cube through the grid, hearing it fizzle into pieces with the sound of a crashing ocean. 

After a while, I found the solution and was on my way to the next elevator. 

 

“ _Oh thank goodness that high toxicity lead didn’t--”_  

High toxicity lead… Of course. I wonder when that was discovered…Either way, I stepped into the elevator, hearing the unhappy protests of it, and my portal device as it rushed me up to the next test, 02. 

“ _Ah yes, Bravo Volta. Fifth testing track_.” 

The fifth testing track… Just how many testing tracks were created\-- and who was naming them?- What kind of name is Bravo Volta? 

No matter, I had to solve this puzzle, which also happened to be a two-part test. Walking through the doors, I was met with a basic box and button test. I slammed my fist on the rusted button stand, then squeezed the handle of my device to pick it up with the field it had, and then gently set it down on the waiting red button. The door hissed open. 

_“Propulsion Gel, I thought that wasn’t made until the nineteen-seventies…_ ” the imposter muttered as if he just hadn’t activated the intercom. Taking that into account, I assumed that It had been at least twenty years since I had gone to sleep. 

The test was simple, up until I was crossing the way into the second portion. 

 

_**“Al..alright, hold up, Mel, I don’t think you’re** _ **that** _**stupid to fall for this anymore. I’ll be blunt now.** _ **I** _**am** _ **not** _**Cave Johnson. This isn’t the nineteen-fifties anymore. Everyone you knew and love is dead.** _

_**And now… You’re stuck** _ **down here** _**in** _ **Aperture Science,** _**with the** _ **trash** _**; Like** _ **me** _**… After everyone left with that boat.** _

_**However, I’m sure you already figured that out, but I can** _ ** get you out ** _**if you let me guide you…”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how does one write testing


	5. Bribed By Demons Into A Collar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well this took too fucking long  
> wanted it to be longer, but this felt right....   
> new chap hopefully in a week or two?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhh wounds tw?? not bad this chap but def the next

   “Yes, I know you don’t have reason to trust me,” the static cracked the wavering fear, “But, Mel, listen... “ I don’t want to listen. 

   “I may have lied to you… but you can help me,” a pause, I knew it was a thought passing through the static, “I can help you.”

   There it was again, that plea. I couldn’t snap back at his lies, or let out that shocked rage threatening to bubble over again. I don’t have a choice, either. I have to let this stranger be my guide; I have to walk on a leash again. 

   If the groaning of the rusted steel beams was any warning of my rapidly decreasing time, I knew my choices were to die here, or get tugged along like a dog- jump through hoops at the temptation of a treat, my escape. 

The crackle of static cut through the air like a knife through butter, ready to spew a new bout of fear out, “Mel, you don’t have time to think it over!” It was fear. Pure fear. Desperation laced with such a fear that was unknown to me. 

I knew the groan of steel was louder, more threatening this time. I felt my thoughts go in many directions, but I knew waiting for the test to collapse was not the right way to leave. I scrunched up my face into a snarl, rushing out of the test and up the elevator. 

I distinctly heard the static crackle ambiently as the elevator crawled its way up to the exit of the shuddering testing sphere. Hearing the final groan… _ scr-eech! _ Of the steel below rake endless unhappiness into my senses, then finally give and crash into a heap at the bottom of the last testing sphere. 

 

It didn’t hit until much later, _that could have been me_. I could have lost it all and drowned slowly in the filling piles of gel and crushed by steel, wood and much worse things. The dread and fear sank in all at once, I don’t know why I let the thought cross my mind to stay there… 

Listening to the breaking tests, I watched dripping repulsion gel of another test. I listened, and waited, caught up in my thoughts. I knew there was something wrong with my emotions, but I didn’t know what. Even if the test speakers were furiously spouting the worries of someone else, nearly deafening the sound of millions of dollars crashing below. 

I don’t know how long I was stuck in my own world, the drips of toxic blue keeping me unaware of the time passing. I didn’t come back into reality easy, realizing I was shaking and the portal device had fallen from my hands some time ago. There was a sharp shrill of static, then I heard the tired lead speak. 

“... Mel. Just walk up the pipe the gel is dripping on…” It sighed, I could hear the emotional distress I had caused. I didn’t hesitate, picking up my device again, and jumped down onto the pipe I was instructed to. 

“This should take you to the pump station…” It followed, much more distant as I crawled up the pipe. “Oh, and be careful and don’t fall off… that goo down there is corrosive, it doesn’t like human skin.” 

The vats of the stinking acid taunted me, knowing just how high up I was on these pipes. I kept up my crawl, pausing to sit down over the concrete platform. I thought about his words, human skin seemed to have been strange in the sentence. Was there more than one type of skin? No, not that I could think of… Strange. 

I didn’t dawdle any longer, pushing myself off of the pipe with a silent scream. The grating of the platform stopping my fall was a harsh shock to my ankles. It stung, knowing there were bruises forming already. It was a miracle I didn’t land on my arms or head. 

I slowly staggered to the toxic goo sign, placing my weight on it, only to find the hinges were giving, and I was on the floor. I gave a silent groan of pain, curling up into a ball. I was tired, and I ached all over. How long have I been awake? Ten? Twenty? Maybe thirty hours? Maybe even more...

I watched the automatic door open up to steel beams painted a rusted red, and more concrete, with careful orange splatters dripping onto the concrete. Orange? How curious, what would it do? 

My body ached for a long rest, but I got up anyway, slowly staggering into the pump station. 

“This is the pump station! Now, according to my records, there is a turret shooting range at the far end of the room. If you can get through there, you’ll be up to the fourth testing track, where I am.” The leader smiled, somehow noticing that I needed the support. “Alright, Mel, you got this! You’re my Olympian!” he beamed, somehow cheery after how emotionally wrecked I had left him. 

My posture reflexively straightened, and I silently sighed, pacing the room for a moment, finding the layout of the room. It seemed fairly easy to get up to the control platform, but I noticed the many turrets standing guard under it. I wasn’t eager to know how many bullets one of those could spray out at a moment’s notice. 

It took longer than normal to get my portals correctly placed, I was slipping and sliding into portals at wild, the musty orange pigment refusing to dry. I was tired to the core, but I couldn’t sleep- not again. I fell backward before my blue portal, legs sliding out to dangle from the edge my orange portal was hanging. I could see the soles of my boots as tiny, murky orange dots above me. A wave of nausea rolled over my body in violent waves, desperately yelling at me to stop staring at something that should have been a logical improbability. I rolled over onto my stomach, pawing desperately at the slick ground to pull myself away from the nauseating portals. 

My face was stuck into the sticky orange goo, desperate to get friction, I tried everything that came naturally out of fear. I kicked my legs, tried grabbing the gel, tried yelling for help. The sickening slurping of my arms against the hardly dry gel, the terrible inhuman croaking noise I felt I was making, the empty air beneath my hips- it was all even worse. I didn’t want to drop down the two stories beneath my legs, I wanted to stay still. Any movement now would surely spill whatever was contained left in my stomach. 

I cried, I bawled. I knew I was going to fall, gripping at the orange pigment as I dangled over the edge from my fruitless effort to pull myself to safety. I clung to the slippery edge for hardly a breaths’ moment, before falling like a stone down to the awaiting concrete painted that taunting artificial orange. 

I crumpled to the ground, hearing the spring-loaded heels on my boots whine in extreme protest against the gel. It hurt to let myself fall after impact, the concrete cold, harsh, and unforgiving. I didn’t get up, trying to soothe the waves of sickness as the reeking smell of stale orange soda came in waves against the powdery pigment that had dried. 

I didn’t get up for an hour… maybe even more. I was tired, I felt sick, my skin burned. I didn’t have the energy to drag myself off of the burning pigment on the concrete. The gel burned, leaving angry red pocks of burned flesh behind after I wiped it away. My hands were the worst, the skin burned and pocketing like an acid burn in a film. I was frightened to think of what my face would look like, if my hands were any indication of damage. 

It took the last of my will to put my exposed skin out of the pigment, I knew the fading black edges in my sight was the only sign of my impending slumber. It was frightening. I didn’t want to sleep again. 

_ I won’t wake-  _

_ I won’t get up-  _

_ I won’t be able to leave! _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't help it be ready for some androids   
> it took this long to decide so I could properly map out the chapters....

**Author's Note:**

> oh boy are you in for a ride  
> I don't know exactly where I'm going to go with this actually  
> you can always suggest things, I might take them into consideration.  
> Also, what about some implied Rainbow/Virgil shipping???


End file.
